


Ordinary, Average

by akamine_chan



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-09 21:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1999452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akamine_chan/pseuds/akamine_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a woman that lives in Nat's building.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ordinary, Average

**Author's Note:**

> Much thanks to Argentumlupine for the beta and concrit, and to Luce for the reassurance. Based on a Tumblr post that said:
> 
> _okay but imagine:_   
>  _natasha romanoff helping drunk girls get home and refusing to let them go by themselves_   
>  _natasha romanoff punching gross men who catcall girls_   
>  _natasha romanoff speaking out against slut shaming_   
>  _natasha romanoff always looking out for the girls in her neighborhood_   
>  _natasha romanoff supporting all girls no matter what_
> 
>   _natasha romanoff defending trans women_
> 
>  
> 
> Warning for off screen domestic violence.

There's a woman that lives in Nat's building. She's probably a couple years older than Nat, not plain, but not pretty, either. Ordinary, average.

She lives in 203. Nat lives in 207, at the end of the hallway. It's the best apartment on the floor for escape routes, if she needs them. She hasn't, yet. 

She sees the woman on occasion, when one of them is coming or going. Nat knows a little about her: she works a 9 to 5 job, likes white wine, and has a husband who tends to leave bruises on her neck, wrist, face. 

Nat finds her in the deserted stairwell one day, sitting on the steps, blood dripping from her nose. Nat pulls out a bandana from her bag and presses it into the woman's hand. "Are you all right?" she asks. Nat looks at her carefully. 

She knows what this woman is going through, knows what it's like to be powerless and scared and dependent on others. She's been there herself. Most women have; it's the nature of being a woman in this world.

"I'm okay," the woman sniffles. Nat's glad that the woman didn't try to give her excuses about being clumsy, tripping on the stairs or running into a door. 'I'm okay' is also a lie, but it's one that Nat will let go.

She nods at the woman and continues up the stairs.

Some nights when she passes by 203 she can hear the husband, sneering at the woman, accusing her of being deliberately stupid, of cheating on him, of trying to hide things from him. Nat hears the sound of flesh striking flesh, once, twice, and she pauses by the door for a long time, eyes closed, body tense. 

It breaks something inside her, but she knows the woman isn't ready. She may never be ready, but Nat has hope. It's one of the few things she still has that's wholly hers. 

It's a while before she see the woman in the stairwell again, and she's nursing a pretty painful looking black eye. "I'm in 207," she says, and leaves the woman alone in her misery. It's all she can do.

The woman's name is Tessa, and she's an engineer. She works on designing efficient heating and cooling systems for buildings. She's an only child, no family, few close friends. The dossier Nat gets from Coulson is tiny, a handful of pages to describe a woman's entire life.

When they pass each other in the hallway, Tessa looks a little worse for wear, and Nat thinks she might almost be ready. Soon, she tells herself.

Weeks go by, and Nat enters the stairwell, and she hears someone crying, miserable and hopeless. Nat is intimately familiar with the sound. She climbs the stairs, one at a time, and when she finally sees Tessa, she knows it's time.

"My name is Natasha," she says, "and I know what you're going through." She holds out her hand. "Let me help." She hears the echoes of Mother Russia in her voice, of generations of women struggling to be free and whole. 

Tessa looks at her with wide eyes, and slowly takes her hand.

It lets Natasha erase a little of the red and she can live with that.

-fin-


End file.
